Microsoft believes fans will still buy Xbox One

Microsoft’s Phil Spencer told OXM UK that the company believes, “…if all you want is gaming, you will still pick us at the end of the day.” Despite Spencer’s self-assuring comments, we don’t think that the company is being realistic about their new approach to DRM, or that always-on Internet connectivity will be a hit with long-time Xbox supporters. Many are saying that if Microsoft continues down this road and does not change its strategy, they will switch and buy a Sony PlayStation 4 this time around (assuming it does not offer the restrictions that the Xbox One has).

While Microsoft says that they are going to talk about games at E3, they had better do a much better job at communicating than they did at their recent press conference. Many gamers were downright angry at what the company has shown of the Xbox One so far. Many have commented that it also appears that the company has no cohesive message, and further, they don’t seem to know what the message really is for the Xbox One.

If the DRM issue was not enough to anger the faithful, then the comments about backward compatibility with the Xbox 360 have only added kerosene to the fire. It was none other than Don Mattrick, when questioned about backward compatibility, who summed it by saying it was just “backwards.”

While Microsoft claims that entertainment applications are driving the platform, the gamers are the ones who are the most vocal, and they are also the ones who purchase the games. We would not be too sure that Spencer is correct that similar to Xbox sheep, the fans will just line up and buy the Xbox One. There is just too much noise and discord, and it reminds us of the Windows 8 backlash; let’s just hope that Microsoft figures this out sooner, rather than later.